Xiaomi considering a MacBook Air competitor for 2016, sources claim

Xiaomi is considering its first laptop as a new channel of competition against rivals like Apple and Lenovo, sources claim. The device could go on sale in the first quarter of 2016, targeting devices like the MacBook Air and the ThinkPad.

“Xiaomi has held talks with Samsung Electronics Co. to supply memory chips, and that initial agreement may extend to providing displays,” sources “with direct knowledge of the matter” have told Bloomberg.

Xiaomi has already been hugely successful in the smartphone industry with affordable devices that combine attractive design with capable specifications. In just five years, it has become a major competitor against Apple and Samsung in China, where smartphones are big business.

Xiaomi’s devices have put its rivals under pressure to produce better midrange smartphones at more affordable prices, and it’s thought the company’s first laptop will do the same by offering consumers a compelling ultraportable at a fraction of the cost of a MacBook or MacBook Air.

While the move could hit Samsung’s notebook business, too, the South Korean company will likely find that its chip business is boosted even further if Xiaomi’s first laptop is a success.

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Killian Bell is a 20-something technology journalist based in a tiny town in England. He has an obsession with that little company in Cupertino...Killian Bell is a 20-something technology journalist based in a tiny town in England. He has an obsession with that little company in Cupertino...